Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
My son and his g/f just recently give me guardianship of my 4 month old grandson. They lived with me during her pregnancy and up until the baby was almost 3 months old. They moved back to California leaving my grandson behind with me. The g/f is still legally married to another young man in California. He learned of this child, called me and is making arrangements to come here to Texas for paternity testing. He states that he was also intimate with my sons g/f during August of last year and so 9 months later this baby is here. I do not believe that he is the biological father myself but have agreed to meet with him to have the baby tested along with him. My question is this: Even if it turns out that he is not the biological father but is in the role of legal father does he have the rights to pack this child up and take him to California? This man plans on being here a week to wait for the results of the paternity testing. He's driving here to test as opposed to testing in his own state just in case the tests prove he is actually the father. At that point he will return back to California with this child. I don't understand what rights he will have as a legal father and whether or not he could still take him from me to California even if he's not the biological father.
1 Answer from Attorneys
If he is the biological father, then he has all of the rights of a parent unless the court takes them away.
You stated that your daughter gave you "guardianship" but that is not a typical thing to do. Do you have a legal right to the child that was given to you by a court? If not, then your rights would be very limited as compared to the biological father.
Since the mother was married to him, he is, in Texas, the presumed father until a paternity test proves him not to be and a court endorses it. You need an attorney immediately to make sure that everything is done right. If there is a reason for you to keep the child, your attorney will need to know much more than you have said here.
Good luck.
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